Safety fears raised at big changes to trauma care at Gloucestershire's two main hospitals

Big changes could be on the way to how trauma care patients, including elderly people recovering from broken hips, are treated at Gloucestershire's two main hospitals.

Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals are drawing up plans to deal with extra demand for services this winter.

Under this year's 'winter plan,' all inpatient trauma surgery would be moved from Cheltenham General to Gloucestershire Royal, while as much planned orthopaedic surgery as possible would be carried out in Cheltenham.

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Off the back of such changes, a letter purporting to be from a consultant orthopaedic surgeon who works for the hospitals has raised safety concerns about the proposed changes.

The letter's author claims concerns raised within Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both hospitals are not being listened to.

Gloucestershire Royal Hospital

They also accused the trust of dressing the plans up as a 'pilot' in the hope they will be viewed favourably by Gloucestershire County Council's Health and Care Scrutiny Committee. While the council has no formal power over the final plans, it is able to publicly question them.

The trust denies the safety of patients would be compromised by the winter plan and said the changes will ensure that people requiring routine orthopaedic operations, such as hip and knee replacements, are not disadvantaged as they were in winter last year.

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"When questioned on this the trust managers have not said how this will be measured and what would happen if the outcomes did not meet the criteria," the letter says.

The letter alleges consultants who have not managed paediatric trauma for 10 years will be forced to provide emergency care for traumatised children as part of the plans. The Trust strongly denied children's safety would be compromised.

"Some of the consultants have raised their concerns about this but are being ignored. The Trust managers have not made adequate safety measures for this."

'More patients will be treated'

In response, Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust said it is committed to delivering the very best care for every patient.

A trust spokesman said: "By piloting this new way of delivering services, we anticipate that many more patients will be able to be treated during the winter months and far fewer will be subjected to last-minute cancellations of care.

"There is very significant clinical support for this including from the consultant body – many of whom have been calling for such change for some time."

The plans will be scrutinised by councillors in November. The trust said it has "well-established" arrangements to determine what needs to be presented to the council and what may be agreed by other means.

The spokesman continued: "Following changes to the leadership of the organisation a number of observers, including the staff, the Care Quality Commission and an independent review of Trust governance arrangements, have commented on the positive culture developing under the new leadership arrangements. A culture that is conducive to openness, transparency and staff involvement. This positive culture is being led from the top by the new chief executive.

"Finally, we always have patient safety and improved care at the heart of everything we do. We refute entirely the allegations in this letter that patient safety, particularly that of children, would in any way be compromised as part of this winter plan."